primrose path, the

the primrose path

A life of pleasure and leisure that results in a negative or detrimental outcome. Usually used in the phrase "lead (one) down the primrose path." After winning the lottery, Jake found himself surrounded by people trying to lead him down the primrose path for their own benefit.See also: path, primrose

primrose path

Fig. earthly delights that come to an end. She led him down the primrose path until she got tired of him.See also: path, primrose

the primrose path

the pursuit of pleasure, especially when it is seen to bring disastrous consequences. The allusion here is to ‘the primrose path of dalliance’ to which Ophelia refers in Hamlet.See also: path, primrose

the primrose ˈpath (to ruin, destruction, etc.)

(literary) an easy life that is full of pleasure but that causes you harm in the end: If we followed your advice we’d all be walking down the primrose path to ruin.This phrase comes from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.See also: path, primrose

primrose path, the

The way of easy self-indulgence. Shakespeare used this term in two ways—as a path of pleasure (“the primrose path of dalliance,” Hamlet, 1.3) and as an easy but dangerous course of action (“the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire,” Macbeth, 2.1). The former meaning survives in the current cliché. See also garden path.See also: primrose